Life in the Blogosphere - Trash Talking Arabian Horses, Old Riders, Dressage and Natural Horsemanship Part 2

It was not my intention by writing Life in the Blogosphere - Trash Talking Arabian Horses, Old Riders, Dressage and Natural Horsemanship to put this blogger in the spotlight. If any blogger should be in the spotlight here it is regardinghorses.com for speaking out against this kind of blogging. Jackie is the person I think should receive some attention because she had the courage to speak up. She saw a problem and confronted it. She could have taken the easy way out and just ignored it hoping it would go away.

Prejudice will never be conquered if people take the easy way out and believe me, this is prejudice. It may be a personal prejudice against any and everything this person doesn't like but it is prejudice none the less. To treat others,whether they be a group of people or a group of horses, so maliciously in the name of "humor" is reprehensible.

No one understands more than I what kind of damage this type of behavior can reek in the world. Mean spiritedness and hatred are at the root of all that is evil. Turning a blind eye to such behavior only enables it to grow. If we can't stand up for our beliefs about horses how do we stand up for them about bigger things.

Lots of people believe these kinds of things about Arabian horses. Wouldn't it be a sad thing if they believed such things about older riders, dressage and natural horsemanship. The horse community would go from being a safe nurturing place for some to just another place to feel they couldn't fit in. That would be a loss the the horse community as well as the individuals.

For me, I can't just stand by and watch while someone takes pot shots at everything that's important to me. So I'm going to address these issues. Exposing them to the light of day and doing some discussion about them can only help educate those who don't really know enough to understand that this is all a bunch of garbage spewed by a very unhappy person.

I know that some of you have tracked down this blog and other's didn't. Some visited Jackie's post and some didn't. Since there are those who still have no idea specifically what all the commotion is about I'm going to post the excerpts that Jackie used in her post. For me this is about addressing the fiction with some much needed facts.

“I think I will pick an easy topic today, stupid horse breeds. Stupid breed # 1: Arabs. I know, I know its so easy, there is so much material. I will try to make it fresh for you. What are arabs actually for? I mean besides spooking. I guess they can do English classes, but really what horse cant do english? But look at this: these horses are too small for grown-ups and too stupid for children. Adults really do look like idiots on Arabs, they may as well be ponies, no one over 13 should be allowed to own one”

Spooking is not limited to Arabian horses. All horses "spook" just as mother nature intended. It is an instinct necessary for their survival in the wild. For many modern day horsemen spooking may seem like an obstacle but for the Arabian horsemen, the great awareness of their horses helped protect them against an undetected attack from their enemies.

Because Arabian horses originated in the desert they needed "special features" to aid in their survival. Their eyes are set wider apart and at an angle that allows them to see much greater distances than other breeds. Their ears are also shaped, sized and set on in such a way as to make the range and acuity of their hearing greater than other breeds.

These two features account for the fact that Arabians appear to spook for no reason to some people when in actuality, the horse sees or hears presumed threats farther away just as mother nature intended.

As for the uses for Arabian horses, they are considered to be a versatile breed and by some the MOST versatile horse of all time. In the show ring they can be seen performing in everything from cutting cattle to dressage. In between are driving horses, all kinds of english horses, western horses, halter horses and trail horses. There is not a single discipline in the USEF Rule Book that Arabian horses can't compete competitively in.

Out in the rest of the world there are many, many places Arabian horses are used in competitions and on the trails. For many 3-day eventers Arabian horses are the breed of choice. Arabians dominate in endurance rides. Even the dressage world is beginning to accept Arabian horses as talented horses.

Two of the fastest growing disciplines in the country, cutting and reining, recognize the accomplishments of Arabian horses. Even back in 1961, the big prize, the Reined Cow Horse class, at the Cow Palace was won by an Arabian mare, Ronteza,ridden by a woman, no less, Sheila Varian. The mare fell during the ride but the rider stayed on as the mare jumped up and completed her rundown of the cow to win the biggest prize in the world.

Today many of the top QH reining and cutting stallions have references on their web pages to how those horses cross with Arabians because the market is sooo hot for the quarter horse/Arabian cross. There are huge purses on futurity classes for half-Arabian reiners and cutting horses at both the prestigious Scottsdale show and the US Arabian National Horse Show.

When it comes to size, Arabians are a more compact horse but not necessarily a shorter horse than all light horse breeds. True the breed standard is from "14.2 hands to 15.2 hands with an occasional individual under or over." But those standards were based on the desert bred horse fed on a desert diet. Today's horses tend to be taller. Most horses seen in the show ring are 15 hands and up.

With the exception of one horse who is 13.2 hands (affectionately know as the midget mare), horses on my farm range in size from 14.2 hands to 16 hands, most mature well over 15 hands. I have breed 3 Legs babies that have matured to 16 hands. I believe there is one more he has sired that has reached 16 hands out of the approximate 25 foals. Over half of the foals he has sired are not yet mature.

While I hear a lot of quarter horse, paint and pinto people refer to Arabians as being much smaller, what I see for height in most is comparable. It is the difference in body mass that accounts for the perception that quarter, paint and pinto horses are a much taller horse. Indeed they are bulkier, but when I ask people the actual height of their quarter horse or paint I rarely come across one taller than Arabians I own.

The inference that adults are too big for Arabian horses actually makes me laugh. From the time I was a kid I was told I was too tall for an Arabian horse. I am nearly 6 feet tall and have a 36 inch inseam ( for those who don't know most jeans for women aren't even made that long), yet the very first horse I bred turned out to be 16 hands tall. My leg doesn't hang down past his belly let alone drag on the ground as you might expect from the picture that way painted. My heel can touch him right on his side if I'm so inclined.

It's interesting to note, that the author complained about how spooky Arabian horses are and yet ended up saying no one older than 13 should be allowed to ride one. That would seem to be a contradiction of her own point of view, unless of course she has no value for children either. However, it is important to note that the Arabian horse is the only breed which allows children, even those under 13 to show stallions. The reason for this is the tractability of the horse.

Another story that tells the great affinity Arabian horses have for children came to me a couple of years ago. I was judging the last schooling show held at Cedar Downs before the facility was torn down. One of the woman working in the office of that show was the leader of a very large 4-H group. While most of the kids in her group were riding quarter horses, whenever she got a beginner kid the search was on for an older Arabian. For this leader and many others there is no more reliable a mount for a child than an Arabian. This leader accounted for the number of quarter horses in her group more peer pressure than true breed preference. It had been her experience that those kids who started out on the Arabians eventually came back to the breed.

I've written other posts including Are Arabian Horses Different from Other Horses and Are Arabian Stallions Different Than Other Horses? that describe the Arabian horse and its relationship with humans. Writing such posts and confronting the misconceptions is the best way I know for people to learn the truth about this breed that I love.

Tomorrow, I'm going to confront the other section of the disrespectful post and then I promise I will be done with this subject until something stirs it up again. In the meantime, keep the discussion flowing. Oh and in that vein, one more thing I forgot to mention here, ALL other light breeds of horses can be traced back to Arabian horse!

To be continued.............

Part 3

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